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With expectations high and hopes even higher, Australia went into its clash with Nigeria needing a win to guarantee a spot in the Round of 16.
Instead, the Matildas gave up three goals after opening the scoring late in the first half, putting their World Cup hopes well and truly on the ropes.
Here are the five quick hits from the day of play.
1. Canada clash becomes must-win situation
With three points already next to their names from the victory over Ireland, a Matildas win would have seen them straight through to the Round of 16.
There — depending on if they topped the group or finished second — they would have headed to Sydney for a date with the second-placed team from Group D, or to Brisbane to take on the winner from that same group.
Instead, they now face a fight to stay in the tournament against the reigning Olympic champions Canada.
Win that match in Melbourne on Monday and they jump to six points, and will move on in the tournament at the expense of the Canadians.
Draw, and they will have to rely on the Nigerians losing to the winless Ireland by two goals or more in their clash in Brisbane, which will be played at the same time.
Lose, and it's all over for the Matildas, in what would be a heartbreaking end for the gold and green in their home tournament.
2. Foord focus had Aussies on the right foot
There was only one team really in this game for the first 45 minutes of the match, and the Matildas' dominance was powered by the boot of Arsenal star Caitlin Foord.
The Matildas had 12 shots to three in the first half, controlled the possession 60-40, and won eight corners to just one — and Foord was the engine that powered it all.
Every shot, every attacking move, every bit of brilliance seemed to come via the 28-year-old.
It was a shot that went wide in the 18th minute, that just needed a little drop or a slight curve to trouble the goalkeeper. It was a beautiful run into the box in the 36th minute, taking on five Nigerian defenders and forcing a corner before taking another two shots that were desperately stopped.
It was two more shots, in the 79th and 94th minutes, that went oh so close.
But in the end it wasn't enough. No player has had more shots at the Women's World Cup than Foord, though just one of the forward's 11 attempts so far has been right on target.
3. Van Egmond provides the cure to the Fowler pain
With Australian fans still reeling from the loss of Mary Fowler to a concussion sustained at training — and Sam Kerr still front of mind with that pesky calf injury — it was Emily van Egmond's turn to step up and score.
As the clock ticked into the 45th minute, and with scores tied at 0-0, it was the 30-year-old who brought Lang Park to life with a deft bit of footwork.
Getting on the end of a nice bit of Foord work, van Egmond calmly tapped the ball into the back of net to give Australia the crucial 1-0 lead.
It was her first Women's World Cup goal in 12 years and 24 days, since netting against Equatorial Guinea in 2011. Only Anne Dot Eggers Nielsen of Denmark (12 years and 98 days from 1995 to 2007) has had a longer gap between goals in the competition.
For all intents and purposes, and after the Matildas had dominated every facet of the game, it looked like that goal would open the floodgates to a comfortable Australia victory.
4. Nigeria turns it on in attack and defence
It took less than five minutes for the game to turn on its head again.
With the half-time whistle almost wet on the lips of the referee, Nigeria went on the attack trying to even things up and save their World Cup hopes.
As the gold of Matildas jerseys radiated throughout the stadium in the glory of a job well done, the ball headed into the Nigerian box and bounced off defender Ellie Carpenter's leg, falling in front of striker Uchenna Kanu.
From there, Kanu tapped the ball past a lunging Mackenzie Arnold to the dismay of the Australian faithful.
In the second half, Australia's early dominance had all but evaporated, with Nigeria at the very least bringing it back to an even footing, if not looking the better team.
And it was in the the 64th minute when disaster struck. With another chaos ball coming into the box, it was Osinachi Ohale who would this time be the hero of the moment, tapping the ball in via foot and copping a kick in the guts for her troubles.
As he teammates celebrated, she writhed on the ground in pain. The score was 2-1, but Australian hopes were still high.
Seven minutes later, those hopes were almost completely gone, when Alanna Kennedy botched a header going backwards in defence, leading to a reasonably easy tap in for Asisat Oshoala.
While Australia would fight, and would drag back a goal via Kennedy in the 99th minute, chance after chance was stopped by the brilliant work of Nigerian captain Chiamaka Nnadozie in goals.
The Matildas had squandered plenty of opportunities — but when Nigeria got their chance, they took it with both hands and were all class at either end of the field.
5. 'We should have won the game'
When it came down to it for coach Tony Gustavsson, that was a game the Matildas should have won.
"If we look at the performance and the stats we should walk off the field winning this game," he said after the match.
"It's important for me to be strong enough emotionally to see this performance was not a 3-2 loss if you look at the performance."
While overall the stats looked good for the Matildas, Gustavsson's tactics were questioned, particularly with how late the attacking Alex Chidiac was brought on, only joining the fray in the 85th minute with the score still at 3-1.
"I will look at the game, see if the timing is wrong, if you get it right it has an effect … I will evaluate if I did it at the right time," he said.
"The way we were carried by the fans — we have to credit them even though I know there's a lot of disappointed fans out there because of the loss, but the way they supported us was amazing."
Today's Women's World Cup schedule
10am: Argentina v South Africa in Dunedin
6.30pm: England v Denmark in Sydney
9pm: China v Haiti in Adelaide
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